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German Anyone who has been involved in development can rattle off a list of failed projects or initiatives which not only didn’t meet the needs they were intended to address but actually had seriously damaging unintended consequences. While a few mistakes are inevitable and one should look at the whole picture,...
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Donor Coordination 2: One solution lies in simplicity
In the previous blog, the main challenges to effective donor coordination were discussed. With the growth in numbers and complexity of the donors, getting a handle on coordination will require more targeted efforts and difficult decisions on the part of donors and their partner countries. For the beginnings of a...
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The „Bonn Call to Action (“Bonner Aufruf”)
In the beginning of September a group of experts, politicians, journalists, former Ambassadors and others with long experience in the “development scene” published the “Bonner Aufruf” or Bonn Call to Action for a new and different development policy. This document has kicked up a major storm in German development circles....
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Donor coordination 1: the challenges
If one assumes that donors are above all committed to poverty reduction and improving the lives of the populations in their target countries, it would seem logical to think that they would have a strong interest in closely coordinating their activities, in the aim of increased efficiency and impact. However,...
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Too much money is chasing too few really good development projects – Part 4: Still too much tied aid
People generally agree that many projects are not as good as they could be. One reason for this which has not been mentioned in previous blog entries lies in the indirect or direct contribution that some “development” activities make to the economies of the donor countries. Here I am speaking...
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Too much money is chasing too few really good development projects – Part 3: Unclear “larger” goals and benefits
This blog looks at how sometimes the domestic or political justifications for development cooperation compromise important development goals, thereby having a damaging effect, both on the image of development cooperation and on achieving those very goals. Sometimes development cooperation is “sold” to the taxpayer not only with pictures of starving...
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The many places a good project idea can go astray – 3
Last time we examined donor approval and project preparation. In this last blog of the series, we look at what happens when the project moves to implementation. Selection of expertise Once the project is approved and prepared, the donor can select the mode of execution. In Germany, the major donors...
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The many places a good development project idea can go astray – (2)
In the blog on April 25th we looked briefly at the project idea and how it get can distorted and removed from the original intent. The next step is:Approval by the donor During this process, the project idea gets examined by various instances. In Germany, it will move from the...
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Too much money is chasing too few really good development projects – Part 2: Conception and implementation challenges
One issue in the quality of projects is surely the real effect or impact we wish to obtain in the beneficiary countries. This has to do with concrete improvements in the living conditions of the populations in the areas addressed by development cooperation. We are all familiar with horror stories...
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Too much money is chasing too few really good development projects – Part 1: Funding periods and priorities
I can already hear the howls of frustration from committed development workers at this title. And in some way, you’re right: it is sometimes terribly difficult to obtain enough funds for some important development cooperation projects. And other ideas go unfinanced merely for lack of funds. But let’s face it:...
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